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Episode 514: A Podcast For Your Thoughts
Date August 14, 2014 Summary Ben and Sam answer listener emails about Justin Verlander’s woes, switch-pitchers, empty averages, and more. Topics * Unproductive .300 hitters * Josh Hamilton & Mike Trout's aging curve * Ambidextrous pitcher usage * Justin Verlander & elite pitchers with mid-career struggles * Preventing base running runs * Being a fan in different time zones Intro The Bee Gees, "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" Outro Episode outtake sound clip Email Questions * Benjamin: "In this week's Jonah Keri podcast Matt Gelb asserted that Ben Revere is hitting the emptiest .300 in the history of baseball because of his lack of power or walks. Is he? If not, who does have the record for the emptiest .300 season of all time?" * Matthew: "In 1999 Josh Hamilton was drafted first overall and was considered a generational talent with five elite tools. Due to his struggles with addition we'll never know what Hamilton could have been in those years and how it affected his development and aging. Jason Parks once said that if he could give any player a do over it would be Hamilton due to his Hall of Fame raw talent. Mike Trout was drafted in 2009 at age 18 and quickly established himself as a five tool player. Is it possible we have begun to see Trout's decline? He is striking out more and hitting for more power. Is it possible? Trout was what Hamilton could have been in those lost years, and do Hamilton's 2008 and 2010 show us what Trout could be at 29? We have no clue how substance abuse affected Hamilton's aging so his decline could be more dramatic." * Joseph: "While reading an article about ambidextrous Ryan Perez is got me thinking about how teams use these pitches. Teams have them pitch with both hands during a game depending on which side the batter bats from. This makes sense of course but it has me asked why teams don't use these pitchers in a different way. What if, instead, teams had them pitch using only one hand the entire game, assuming in theory they'd be able to pitch back to back games with only three days off before they went back to back again. You could do it every other day too and have them be your number 3 and 5 starter. I'm not aware of any team trying this idea before, am I crazy?" * Ossa: "Which team in 2014 during another year or over a span of years is/was best at preventing opponents from taking the extra base? In other words, who are the relay kings of MLB, and is that number a totally significant one in terms of moving the needle on team success?" * Matt Trueblood: "I was wondering if you've ever given any thought or would care to ruminate on the way the time zone in which one lives shapes your experience as a baseball fan. skims rest of email about differences between East and West coast fans. * Eric Hartman: "One game only, would you rather have Clayton Kershaw vs. the AL All-Stars or Kevin Correa vs. the Padres?" Play Index * Ben & Sam invite listener Andy to do a guest play index segment. * Inspired by Justin Verlander's poor performance this season, Andy used the Play Index to find great pitchers that had a bad year in the middle of their career. * Andy looks up under 30 year old All-Star pitchers who qualified for the ERA title and had a season with a WAR under 1.00. There were 291 pitcher seasons that met this criteria, but not many elite pitchers. * John Smoltz had a WAR of .9 during the 1994 strike shortened season. * Sam 26-32 hall of fame pitchers. going back to 1950. Eckersley. Notes * Sam says the emptiest .300 BA in history was A.J. Pierzynski's 2009 season when he hit .300/331/.425 in 504 at-bats. * Mike Trout's season so far would be the 2nd best season of Josh Hamilton's career. * Andy doesn't expect Justin Verlander to finish the season above 1.00 WAR (Verlander finished with 0.9). * In 2012 the difference between the best and worst team at preventing base running runs was 40 runs. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 514: A Podcast For Your Thoughts Category:Guest Episodes Category:Email Episodes Category:Episodes